Let us know how the test ride goes. It'll either have you hooked or wondering why they aren't banned.

My current outfit is a Moto Guzzi V7 with a light, simple chair. £6k for the bike, £4k for the chair. It does 55 mpg and will sit comfortably at 60 mph. So far so good, but adding the chair and taking it off each winter doubles the cost of my insurance, experience says the £130 rear tyres would last 3000 miles if I only ran as an outfit. For the £4k I could get a decent car and avoid the rest.

I had a BMW k outfit which only cost £4k and ran car tyres. Trouble is, it was 25 years old and getting the custom made exhaust past the annual inspection was a nightmare. I once did 18 mpg into a headwind! Wheel bearings lasted 2 years and identifying which car the sidecar brake was from in order to buy pads was a fun. If the clutch had gone that swine would have been off the road for months while I removed chair, subframe, exhaust.....


A new Ural costs £14 K. You could get a lot of VW camper for £28k.

You could buy a pair of 1990's Dnepr's for £800, but would need to develop serious patience to deal progress measured in miles per week as you dealt with the mechanical strain lugging 3/4 of a ton about with a1930s 25 HP machine produces. A decent melt down and new engine will make a car look good unless you really do love the way they handle. Serious foilheads would love this, personally I want to go not fix.

If you like the mental and physical gymnastics involved sidecars are brilliant fun. I love driving on snow when every other motorcyclist is stuck indoors. I love camping with a dog, fridge and tent you can stand up in.

Starting now with a plan to have an outfit able to carry a pair of 5 year olds in 4 years time sounds entirely possible. If you like the test drive I would suggest you need a working outfit now to practice your flying etc. While you get to work on the travel outfit in parallel. You won't know what features you like or need until you get into this.

Is your trip about going places or going places by sidecar? If the former you don't need the chair, if the latter you do!

Andy